Overview
Late Emperor was a ruler.
IdentityHistorical · Male · Title only
Life and dates
Attested activity
Family
- Kinship Role princes and heir apparent · Quantity unspecified
Places and affiliations
- Polity Eastern Wu 吳 · Relation Served
Assessments and attributes
- Assessment cherished worth and loved the people · Mode quoted-source Speaker Lu Kai (陸凱)
References in the histories
No matching passages.
Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 61Volume 61: Book of Wu 16: Biographies of Pan Jun and Lu Kai · 21 passages
皓遣親近趙欽口詔報凱前表曰：“孤動必遵先帝，有何不平？
Sun Hao sent his favorite Zhao Qin with an oral reply to Lu Kai's earlier memorial: "Every move I make follows the late emperor—where is the injustice?
臣竊見陛下執政以來，陰陽不調，五星失晷，職司不忠，奸黨相扶，是陛下不遵先帝之所致。
Since Your Majesty began to rule, heaven and earth have fallen out of tune, the five planets stray from their courses, officials grow corrupt, and cabals thrive—because Your Majesty has turned his back on the late emperor's example.
此不遵先帝一也；
This is the first way in which you ignore the late emperor's example;
邦內傷心，有識悲悼，咸以吳國夫差復存，先帝親賢，陛下反之，是陛下不遵先帝二也；
The whole court grieved; men said King Fuchai of Wu had come again. The late emperor cherished worth; you do the opposite—this is the second way you abandon his model;
臣聞宰相國之柱也，不可不強，是故漢有蕭、曹之佐，先帝有顧、步之相。
The chancellor is a state's pillar and must be strong: Han had Xiao He and Cao Shen; our late emperor relied on Gu Yong and Bu Zhi.
賢良憤惋，智士赫吒，是不遵先帝三也；
Good men boil with resentment and wise officers gnash their teeth—this is the third betrayal of your father's way;
先帝愛民過於嬰孩，民無妻者以妾妻之，見單衣者以帛給之，枯骨不收而取埋之。
The late emperor loved the people like infants: he married widowers to palace ladies, gave cloth to the poorly clad, and ordered stray bones gathered for burial.
而陛下反之，是不理先帝四也；
You do the opposite—this is the fourth breach;
昔桀、紂滅由妖婦，幽、厲亂在嬖妾，先帝鑒之，以為身戒。
Jie and Zhou fell to sorceresses, You and Li to favorite concubines; the late emperor took warning.
風雨逆度，正由此起，是不遵先帝五也；
Heaven's weather turns violent for good reason—this is the fifth departure from your father's standard;
先帝憂勞萬機，猶懼有失。
The late emperor wore himself out over every detail of government and still feared mistakes.
陛下臨阼以來，遊戲後宮，眩惑婦女，乃令庶事多曠，下吏容奸，是不遵先帝六也；
Since you took the throne you have dallied in the harem, dazzled by women, let affairs of state pile up undone, and allowed underlings to grow corrupt—this is the sixth betrayal;
先帝篤尚樸素，服不純麗，宮無高台，物不雕飾，故國富民充，奸盜不作。
He prized simplicity—plain dress, low halls, undecorated tools—so the state grew rich and theft ceased.
而陛下徵調州郡，竭民財力，士被玄黃，宮有朱紫，是不遵先帝七也；
You tax the commanderies dry, clothe soldiers in costly dyes, and paint the palace in vermilion and purple—this is the seventh break with his rule;
先帝外仗顧、陸、朱、張，內近胡綜、薛綜是以庶績雍熙。
Outwardly he trusted Gu Yong, Lu Xun, Zhu Ran, and Zhang Zhao; inwardly he relied on Hu Zong and Xue Zong—so government ran clear.
今者外非其任，內非其人，陳聲、曹輔，斗筲小吏，先帝之所棄，而陛下幸之，是不遵先帝八也。
Today the wrong men hold border commands and the wrong faces fill the court—Chen Sheng and Cao Fu, petty clerks your father dismissed, bask in your favor. That is the eighth fault.
先帝每宴見群臣，抑損醇
Whenever the late emperor feasted with his ministers he limited strong
夫酒以成札，過則敗德，此無異商辛長夜之飲也，是不遵先帝九也；
Wine should seal courtesy; excess destroys virtue—no better than King Zhou of Shang drinking the long night away. This is the ninth fault;
若江渚有難，烽燧互起，則度等之武不能禦侮明也，是不遵先帝十也；
Should the river line flare with alarm, those men plainly lack the steel to meet an enemy—this is the tenth fault;
先帝在時，亦養諸王太子，若取乳母，其夫復役，賜與錢財，給其資糧，時遣歸來，視其弱息。
When the late emperor was alive, he too provided for the princes and the heir apparent: if wet nurses were taken, their husbands were excused from labor, given money and grain, and sent home now and then to tend their infants.
今則不然，夫婦生離，夫故作役，兒從後死，家為空戶，是不遵先帝十二也；
Now husbands and wives are split apart, men are worked to death, children die in their wake, and homes are left empty—this is the twelfth fault;